Adolescent Reproductive Health

The world’s population of young people occupy a unique and important role understanding global reproductive health. Due to population growth, these numbers will continue to grow, and the time it takes for the world population to stabilize is largely determined by the actions we take today to address the health needs of adolescents. Recently, a five-year rise in age of marriage cut TFR by one quarter [1]. In order to promote positive socio-economic changes with global ramifications, special attention must be paid to this demographic.

During the transition from childhood to adulthood, adolescents form habits including health seeking and the sexual and reproductive behaviors that will last them a lifetime. Improving the ability of adolescents to make informed reproductive health decisions has vast implications for the future. There is a need for urgent and widespread action: evidence suggests that the family planning needs of youth are 2.3 times higher than those of the adult population [2]. The Bixby Center recognizes that family planning is essential for reducing health risks and improving educational and economic opportunities for youth.

Adolescents in developing countries are among the world’s most vulnerable populations. They are often poor with limited economic prospects and agency. Conservative cultural norms, particularly the social biases of providers, can act as barriers to reproductive health services for young people. The resulting lack of access is associated with an increased prevalence of unintended pregnancies and STIs [3]. The leading causes of death for women ages 15-19 years in developing countries are pregnancy-related complications [4]. Adolescent childbearing has increased risk for the infants as well – infants born to teenage mothers are 50 percent more likely to die in the first week of life than those born to 20-29 year old mothers [4]. However, adolescents also provide tremendous opportunities for hope – their resilience and adaptability offers the ability to potentially overcome childhood adversity and create healthy and productive futures.

The Bixby Center incorporates adolescent health components to our initiatives in a wide variety of ways, ranging from strategies to keep girls in school, youth-friendly contraceptive and abortion services. The reproductive health knowledge, behavior and opportunities in the second decade can determine prospects in adulthood – an important motivation for the Bixby Center’s commitment to adolescents. Our efforts include identifying gaps in ARH knowledge, developing and testing solutions, synthesizing current knowledge for policy decision-making, and designing processes to move from evidence to policies and practice. We are mindful of opportunities to expand the research base and services available for adolescents. Interspersed throughout many of our projects and collaborations, adolescents are an important sub-group who benefit from our services, as is highlighted in some examples below.

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The Bixby Center for Population, Health, and Sustainability is dedicated to helping achieve slower population growth within a human right framework by addressing the unmet need for family planning. Learn more